Born out of the short story David Mitchell published on Twitter in 2014 and inhabiting the same universe as his latest bestselling novel The Bone Clocks, this is the perfect book to curl up with on a dark and stormy night. Turn down Slade Alley - narrow, dank and easy to miss, even when you're looking for it. Find the small black iron door set into the right-hand wall. No handle, no keyhole, but at your touch it swings open. Enter the sunlit garden of an old house that doesn't quite make sense; too grand for the shabby neighbourhood, too large for the space it occupies.A stranger greets you by name and invites you inside. At first, you won't want to leave. Later, you'll find that you can't.This unnerving, taut and intricately woven tale by one of our most original and bewitching writers begins in 1979 and reaches its turbulent conclusion around Hallowe'en, 2015. Because every nine years, on the last Saturday of October, a 'guest' is summoned to Slade House. But why has that person been chosen, by whom and for what purpose? The answers lie waiting in the long attic, at the top of the stairs...

As stated in the synopsis Slade House takes place in the same universe as Mitchell’s The Bone Clocks and I picked it up for precisely the same reason, Slade House has been chosen on the Tournament of Books 2016 long list. (The Bone Clocks was a short list pick for 2015).

It’s worth noting however, that it wasn’t until at least halfway through the book that I realized we were hanging out with some of Holly Sykes good friends. Slade House is written in Mitchell’s unique style, a series of vignettes that at first are seemingly unrelated, until finally the picture comes into a very sharp focus.

Not as long as The Bone Clocks or as esoteric as Cloud Atlas, I think this is a great pick for people just starting to dabble in Mitchell’s work. Slade House gives a great sampling of some of Mitchell’s greatest strengths, his character development (even in a remarkably short period of time), his ability to develop exceedingly creepy and uneasy environments, and just the general beauty of his words.

I’m also intrigued by the synopsis that Slade House was born out of short story on Twitter. I want to know more about that!

Highly recommended to David Mitchell fans, haunted house lovers, and those that love creepy atmospheric novels.